Dhaka, Oct 16 (V7N)- Sharadiya Durgotsav, the largest religious festival of the Bengali Hindu community, begins across Bangladesh on Friday with Mahasashti, marking the start of five days of worship and celebrations.
On Mahasashti, Goddess Durga will be ceremonially welcomed and worshipped at temples and puja mandaps across the country. Rituals will include the invocation and consecration of the goddess, accompanied by incense, lamps, the blowing of conch shells, ululation and the rhythmic beats of traditional drums.
According to traditional religious beliefs and the Hindu calendar, Goddess Durga is believed to arrive this year riding a horse and depart on a boat on Vijaya Dashami, the final day of the festival.
The five-day celebration will conclude on October 21 with Vijaya Dashami, when devotees will bid farewell to the goddess through the immersion of her idols.
Temples and puja mandaps across the country have been decorated and illuminated for the occasion. Devotees are preparing to welcome the goddess amid festive rituals and religious ceremonies.
This year, Durga Puja is being held at 33,851 mandaps across Bangladesh, around 1,500 more than last year. In Dhaka city, celebrations are taking place at 258 temples and mandaps.
The administration and law enforcement agencies have made preparations to ensure that the festivities remain peaceful and orderly.
The government has also arranged an extended holiday period for the festival. October 20 has been declared a holiday by executive order on the occasion of Navami, October 21 is a general public holiday for Vijaya Dashami, and October 22 has been declared a holiday by executive order of the Prime Minister. With the regular weekly holidays on Friday and Saturday, October 23 and 24, government employees will enjoy five consecutive days off from October 20 to 24.
END/SMA/AJ
